Illustration: Carl Buell
As a blue whale lunges through a patch of krill the throat pleats
expand to take in a tremendous volume of krill-laden water with
each mouthful.
Monterey Bay Season: Late May / early June through August.
The Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is the largest living animal on the planet at eighty feet long and can weigh over 100 tons with a blow twenty feet tall. It is truly thrilling to have this huge animal surface near the boat. On a good day we can see through the water and the light bluish-gray body appears as a turquoise hue. It is magical. Blue Whales come into Monterey Bay to feed on the abundant seasonal krill blooms.
A blue whale can consume several tons of krill each day.
Photo: Ed Hughes
This view of the back of a blue whale shows the very small fin and mottled blue-gray coloration. The back just goes on forever during a surfacing.
Listen to one of our marine biologists describing a Blue Whale encounter on NPR's All Things Considered 7/6/12: |
Conservation Concern: Ship collisions
In 2010 a dead pregnant blue whale beached along the San Mateo County coast north of Monterey Bay. It was determined to have died from a collision with a tanker ship. These collisions are becoming more common along the California coast as both our whale populations and tanker traffic increases. Shipping lanes cross whale migration corridors and feeding grounds. Current research is striving to document whale behavior around large ships in order to inform shipping lane regulations along our coast.
In 2010 a dead pregnant blue whale beached along the San Mateo County coast north of Monterey Bay. It was determined to have died from a collision with a tanker ship. These collisions are becoming more common along the California coast as both our whale populations and tanker traffic increases. Shipping lanes cross whale migration corridors and feeding grounds. Current research is striving to document whale behavior around large ships in order to inform shipping lane regulations along our coast.
Illustration: W. Tenison
Vintage Whale Art of Blue Whale and Humpback Whale
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